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This sophomore writing seminar will consider questions of ethics and justice in thinking through contemporary issues in law and everyday practice concerning disability, including discrimination in the workplace and public sphere; disability accommodations and benefits; education; and bioethical debates. Beginning with an examination of the ethics of historical and cultural representations, we will conclude by learning about global perspectives on the contemporary state of disability and justice. We will explore the history of disability policy and law along the way, as well as closely examine several Supreme Court cases and decisions. As a writing-intensive seminar, this course will also allow for the development of critical thought and reasoning in both oral and written communication.

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This sophomore writing seminar explores the intersections of disability culture, policy, and law. In working toward an understanding of disability rights--past, present, and future--, we will pay special attention to the following considerations: How have policy and legislative protections for other minorities shaped disability rights? How does an understanding of disability in turn impact how we consider race, gender, ethnicity, class, or national origin, especially under the law? How do these conceptions of identity play out in mapping the future of the disability rights movement? How do we understand the relationship between overlapping identities in the law and in society, such as in the workplace or in the educational setting? We will especially think through the question of intersections between disability, law, and society, that is, how disability identity is impacted by, and impacts in turn, both employment and educational policies, and above all, legal protections for people with disabilities. As a writing-intensive seminar, this course will allow for the significant development of critical thought and reasoning in both oral and written communication.

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This course explores the varied experiences of ethnic Mexican workers in the United States from the early Industrial Period to the contemporary debates concerning the transnational effects of migrant labor. We will examine the ways ethnic Mexican men and women have organized at a regional, national, and international level, and in both rural and urban settings, for fair employment and civil rights. Close attention will be given to several historical factors that have helped shape Mexican American working-class identity. Ultimately, the course will determine how ethnic Mexican workers have contested their purported role as ¿cheap¿ and ¿tractable¿ labor to demand better wages, working conditions, and an end to the socio-economic discrimination they encountered. As this course is a writing seminar, we will spend a lot of in-class time discussing the material we read from both an analytical and writing-structure standpoint. Students will also be required to critique and revise their own writing.

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This course investigates several different modes of rhetorical criticism for speech acts dealing with labor movements throughout history. The course moves from the early rhetoric of the Boston coopers and shoemakers form guilds through the formation of modern labor unions and the rhetorical responses to these movements from various stakeholders to present day speech acts involving current issues involving labor. Students learn the historical context of the speech acts surrounding significant labor events and how to apply rhetorical analysis tools to them.

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For the last two decades the U.S. economy has experienced a dramatic growth in precarious employment, including low wage jobs and contingent (or episodic) employment.  Examples of precarious employment include the work of day laborers, domestic workers, guest workers and low-wage immigrant workers.  Long-term and structural changes in the economy and society have driven this trend. Such changes have included the shift from a manufacturing based- to a service based-economy, implementation of labor-saving business strategies and technologies, the reduction of unionization rates and globalization-triggered immigration.  The growth of precarious employment raises broad reaching research and policy questions about the future of work globally.  This course will address these questions as well as proposed solutions.  Along with studying scholarship on these issues, students will engage in semester-long research projects related to precarious workers in conjunction with the Worker Institute at Cornell.  

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In this elective, we will explore changes and continuities in women¿s work throughout 19th- and 20th-century America, defining work not just as paid labor but also as childbirth, childrearing, and unpaid domestic chores. Readings will focus on the experiences of individual women workers, the ways that sex-segregated labor has been socially and economically undervalued, and the norms affecting occupational boundaries.

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Pre-requisites: The course will be offered over four consecutive evenings. It will be open to both ILR and non-ILR students at the upper division and graduate level who have a sufficient background in the social sciences. Enrollment open to ILR and non-ILR juniors, seniors, and graduate students. Limited to 30 students. The proposed course will introduce students to the theory of collaborative or interest-based conflict resolution and will describe recent efforts to use these techniques to resolve important public policy issues. The course will be based substantially, but not exclusively, on the work of the Convergence Center for Policy Resolution, a national non-profit organization based in Washington, DC, which has been applying collaborative problem solving to issues of importance at the national policy level for several years. Three cases of collaborative decision making will be examined in detail: health care coverage and the Affordable Care Act; nutrition and wellness; and education reform. Robert Fersh, ILR B.S. ¿72, J.D. Boston University ¿75, the president of Convergence, and Richard Korn, ILR B.S. ¿71 and Ph.D. ¿79, the chairman of the board of trustees of Convergence, will serve as co-instructors in the course.

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For the last two decades the U.S. economy has experienced a dramatic growth in precarious employment, including low wage jobs and contingent (or episodic) employment.  Examples of precarious employment include the work of day laborers, domestic workers, guest workers and low-wage immigrant workers.  Long-term and structural changes in the economy and society have driven this trend. Such changes have included the shift from a manufacturing based- to a service based-economy, implementation of labor-saving business strategies and technologies, the reduction of unionization rates and globalization-triggered immigration.  The growth of precarious employment raises broad reaching research and policy questions about the future of work globally.  This course will address these questions as well as proposed solutions.  Along with studying scholarship on these issues, students will engage in semester-long research projects related to precarious workers in conjunction with the Worker Institute at Cornell.  

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The purpose of this course is to provide students with space to prepare an academic article of publishable or fundable quality. Each student will work on a project related to her/his research, and you must begin the semester with an outline or draft of a qualifying paper, dissertation chapter, manuscript or funding proposal that you want to develop. Each week will discuss a group of readings focused on the craft of social science writing and go over assigned writing exercises. Key issues we will discuss include: refining research questions, constructing relevant literature reviews, how to leverage empirical evidence to advance your argument effectively, journal selection, responding to reviewers concerns, seeking external funding, and practical tips for writing productivity. You will also be responsible for doing a close reading of a peer¿s draft, and facilitating a workshop discussion. Everyone will get a chance to put their writing under the microscope at least once. While the course is geared towards PhD students engaged in academic research and publication, Masters-levels students are also invited to join.